Community Service Scholarships

Deadline extended to May 10, 2019

We invite law students to apply for our Community Service Scholarship Awards. AALFNY will award Scholarships in the amount of $5,000 each to up to three law students with a demonstrated commitment to the Asian American community. The purpose of the award is to assist law students with their tuition while encouraging them to use their legal knowledge and training to benefit the Asian American community in New York and to foster commitment by law students to public service to the Asian American community in New York.

Applicants should include a description of their proposed summer community service project and the name, email address and phone number of a supervisor at the community service organization or other organization that the Scholarship Committee may contact. Applicants are responsible for arranging their own projects.

Please review the List of prior awardees and organizations. The list is only provided as an example and no guarantee is made that the organizations will continue to host students in 2019 or that volunteering at one of these organizations entitles the applicant to a Scholarship.

Each student is expected to volunteer at least 8 weeks, 35 hours per week, during the summer of 2019 at such project and to apply the award to the payment of law school tuition. Award recipients are also requested to submit an essay at the end of the summer describing their experience with their project.

How do I apply for the Asian American Law Fund Scholarship?

1. Students enrolled in an ABA- or AALS-accredited law school in the United States at least half-time as determined by the law school are eligible to apply for the Asian American Law Fund Scholarship. To be eligible, an applicant must be a candidate for a J.D. degree and must be in good standing at his or her law school; students seeking advanced law degrees are not eligible for this program. Applicants must also be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

2. Applicants must submit a completed and signed Scholarship Application form (attached). The Scholarship Application must be accompanied by (i) a description of the proposed volunteer work for the Summer of 2019 plus the name, email address and phone number of a contact person at the organization sponsoring the volunteer work, (ii) an essay not to exceed 750 words, (iii) a letter of recommendation from a person not related to the applicant, (iv) an official copy of the applicant’s most recent law school transcript, (v) a copy of the applicant’s resume and (vi) a description of other scholarships, grants or awards that the applicant may be receiving during Summer 2019 and any course credit to be received for the Summer. Applicants who wish to demonstrate financial need may also submit a copy of their law school application for financial assistance or discuss such need in their essay. Applicants receiving other sources of funding and course credit for the Summer are eligible to apply for this scholarship but must disclose such funding and credit as part of their application. In addition, applicants must promptly notify the Fund if they receive such funding or course credit after the submission of the Scholarship Application.

3. Finalists may be interviewed by one or more members of the Scholarship Committee, either in person or by telephone prior to the final announcement of the awards.

When do I apply?

The completed Scholarship Application and all required materials must be received by April 1, 2019 May 10, 2019

When will the Scholarships be announced?

The Scholarships will be announced on or about April 17, 2019. The full amount of the award will be given to the recipient at the Fund’s Summer Reception event in June.

What criteria will be used to award the Scholarships?

The Fund will take into consideration all the materials submitted by the applicant and will give particular weight to the essay portion of the application and the applicant’s Summer project. The letter of recommendation should be written by a person who can provide relevant information to the Fund and who can be contacted by the Fund. Among the factors to be considered by the Fund are the following:

· the applicant’s demonstrated commitment to and interest in pro bono and/or public interest legal work to the Asian American community;

· the applicant’s leadership potential;

· the applicant’s maturity and responsibility; and

· the applicant’s financial need.

It is the Fund’s policy not to discriminate on the basis of age, gender, disability, race, color, creed, religion, ethnicity, national origin, veteran status or sexual orientation.

Since the award must be applied to a recipient’s law school tuition, students who are already receiving full tuition scholarships are not eligible.

Members of the immediate families of officers and directors of AABANY and of members of the Fund’s Board of Directors and Scholarship Committee are also not eligible for the Scholarship.

All materials submitted to the Fund will become the property of the Fund and may be used by the Fund. The Fund reserves the right to issue public announcements regarding the Scholarship winners and to use essays and reports provided by the Scholarship winners.

What types of projects might be undertaken?

Projects must be with non-profit organizations and must serve New York’s Asian American community. One of the potential scholarships may be set aside for an applicant working for a governmental organization involved with the Asian American community in New York. Judicial internships are not eligible. A proposed project should involve legal work and have a supervising attorney. Work with nonprofit organizations that provide legal assistance to the general population will be considered if you can demonstrate that the Asian American community will be benefited. Applicants are responsible for contacting community service organizations and arranging their own projects. Community service organizations that have hosted applicants in the past are described in the attached list. The list is neither exclusive nor exhaustive.

What do I need to do regarding a project?

Applicants are responsible for arranging their own projects. The organizations described in the sample list are only provided as examples of places that have hosted students in the past and is not meant to be either exhaustive or definitive. Applicants must be accepted by the organizations before submitting the application for the Scholarship. No preference is given to a project with organizations on the attached list as compared to other projects that otherwise meet the criteria described.

To whom may I direct any questions I might have?

Questions regarding the Community Service Scholarship Program may be directed to Sylvia Fung Chin at schin@asianamericanlawfund.org .

[1] AABANY is a professional membership organization of Asian/Pacific American and other attorneys in New York concerned with issues affecting the Asian American community.

[2] Students attending law schools outside the state of New York but seeking to work at an organization serving the needs of New York’s Asian American community also may be considered for the Scholarship.